I'm really not updating this as much as I should... I only have one more week left in Japan though, so I've been pretty busy, to say the least. I guess it's time for my Macross Live post now though! 8D

The concert was a lot of fun!! There were tons of people though, way more than I actually expected. The venue wasn't that great either (Makuhari Messe). I don't think it was really meant for a concert like this. The acoustics were awful, it was more like a warehouse than a concert hall. Seating was bad. The seats were all fold out chairs and all there was were ground seating. I was unfortunately on the far right side of the room at the very very very back. I wouldn't have been able to see anything had there not been a screen. 

Either way though, it was still a once in a lifetime experience :) Maybe I'll be around for the 50th or 60th Anniversary though! hahaha. Mari Iijima might not be around for those though, and I think it would've been sad without here. I must say though, she looks AMAZING her age. She posted a picture of her and May'n on Facebook and I swear you couldn't tell she was 30 years older than May'n is. Witchcraft >_>;

One of my other complaints was how they organized the concert itself. Seeings as it is a "Crossover" live, I think I was hoping for a lot more collaborating between artists and duets and such. (Ok, I was really hoping for a Minmay and Ranka duet of 'My Boyfriend is a Pilot'). It was very sectioned off. The start of the concert would have led you to believe exactly what I was hoping for too. It stated off with May'n singing Sheryl's version of 'Aimo' and then they brought out the voice actress of Mao Nome (from Macross Zero) to sing it with her. Mao is Sheryl's grandmother, so it was the first Nome collaboration 8D After that May'n came on, she sang 'Gira Gira Summer,' 'Universal Bunny,' 'Kindan no Elixar,' 'Diamond Creavasse," and 'Iteza Gogo 9ji Don't be Late.' She sang one other song, I can't remember which one it was I want to say it was either "Maboroshi no Hikari" or "Tenshin ni nachatta"....After her Chie Kajiura came on. Macross 7 is the one series I don't know a lot about so I can't tell you what songs she sang ._. It was really hard to hear her though! The background music drowned out her voice and the sound system wasn't that great :( Or maybe that was just because of where I was sitting? Still though, in a decent venue this wouldn't have been a problem! -_- Anyways, after that there was a brief intermission with Max Jenius and Klan talking with various other characters coming and going throughout the little clip (this is what the intermission was throughout the entire concert). Following that  it was Mari's turn! She was so beautiful! She came out singing 'My Boyfriend is a Pilot' and then sang '0g Love,' 'Shao Pai Lon,' 'Sunset Beach,' 'Tenshi no Enogu,' and 'Do you Remember Love.' It was super sweet too, because she had her son there playing the guitar with her! She introduced him saying "this is my baby, please treat him well" I think it's cute that she still calls him a baby even though he's an adult hahaha. It was super cute though :D I'm a little sad she didn't sing "Silver Moon, Red Moon" (one of my favorites), but I'm glad she sang Sunset Beach and Tenshi no Enogu! 

Following Mari was Nakajima Megumi! Her stage was super fun. She looks really good now that she's cut her hair short~ I enjoyed being able to sing "Open Ranka!" and "Kirah~" when she sang "Niji-iro no kuma kuma" and "Seikan Hikou." She also sang 'Ao no Ether,' 'Hoshi Kira,' and 'Houkago no Overflow' :D

After her it was the guy from Macross 7, I only know him by the character name Basara... He was so much more popular than I even imagined he would be though!! I was shocked! Every one was super excited for his stage.. well except for me. His was fun though, just because he's more 'rock' than 'pop' and actually plays the guitar. I like watching people who enjoy themselves while they're performing. That's part of why I fell in love with May'n, she just looks so happy and excited when she's on stage n_n

After that it was "the end" Just kidding though! They ended up bringing out the actual voice actors for the two characters who had been doing the intermissions and they had a little talk and then the 1st encore started. IT LITERALLY MADE MY LIFE! First, Yoko Kanno came out on stage and started playing various Macross songs on the piano. And then... and then... oh gosh I'm tearing  up about it still ;w; the stage went all dark and "Voices" from Macross Plus started playing and then the stage lit up and there stood Akino Arai singing!!! I never ever expected to see her! Her voice is so lovely :3 I found this picture on her twitter! Childhood dream #1 complete, I can now say I've heard Akino Arai live

But, that wasn't all. After Akino Arai left, Yoko Kanno started playing the piano some more. And then she started playing Triangular, the opening to Macross Frontier, and then. MAAYA SAKAMOTO! Everyone in the room gasped. It was such a fantastic surprise! 

The second encore was duets between characters from the same series, so Macross 7's Basara and Chie Kajiura came on and sang Fire Bomber songs and following them was May'n and Nakajima Megumi to sing Lion and Shooting Star. Once May'n and Nakajima Megumi were done singing they brought Basara and Chie back on stage and sang a couple of songs together and after that they brought Mari back on stage. That was when they started the last song. They all sang the ending theme for the original Macross series, "Runner" ;_; And then it was over... So sad... I heard there were no plans for them to release the concert on DVD, but I really hope they do! 

God though, that reminds me, the biggest annoyance of the night. They tried to shove all of us out one freaking exit. Whoever thought that was a good idea needs to be fired. It was only after they realized what a bad idea that was that they decided to open the other two exits. 

I had a lot of fun. If I could go back and change one thing though, I would've gotten there much earlier than what I did. Before the concert was almost like a mini Macross convention. They were selling the merchandise (I bought a tshirt, sheryl fan, and some keychains to give my friends), and they were doing Macross karaoke, and they had macross themed food and drinks, and all the Macross cosplayers. Yeah, I don't tend to enjoy identifying with a "fandom" just because I find there a lot of time there's unnecessary drama involved and it gets messy, but this was the first time I kinda felt "I'm glad to be a part of this." :3

That's about all for the concert. 

Oh yeah, outfit! I really liked it, I think I looked super cute. It's a pity though, my feet ended up swelling unusually large :0 I was really worried for a while. All of the walking I did in Tokyo the days before and all the standing in lines after I got to the concert and then the jam-packed trains full of everyone trying to get back to the city before the trains stopped running. The concert was over 5 hours long. It was supposed to have started around 4, I got there around 3ish I think, and I didn't get back to the hotel until after 11. Didn't help that I got lost going back to the hotel room (accidentally went out the wrong station exit...). I ended up taking my shoes off when I finally figured out where I was and how to get back and just walking back to the hotel in my socks >>; 

Ok, now that I've got this entry done I'll try to do catch up posts quickly. I may be writing some of those after I get back home to Atlanta though. I have to finish packing and mailing my things off, there's a few parties this weekend, I want to go see the new Studio Ghibli movie, I want to ride the Amu Plaza ferris wheel, and I need to finish spending the last of my tosho cards. On top of a test and a 2000ji report that's due Tuesday. So much to do and so little time ~_~